Steering-gear for mechanically-propelled vehicles.



. H; MARLES. vS'IIEIIING GEARl FOR MECHANICALLY PROPELLED VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV- il, I9I4. l

Patented July 4 s SHEETS-SHEET 1.

.IIIIIIII I H. MARLES. STEERING GEAR FOR MECHANICALLY PROPELLED VEHICLES.

APPLICATION HLED Nov. v1. 1914.

Patented July 4, 1916.y

3 SHEETS-SHEET 2.A

/g' E l/ jay;

II. IVI/muis; 4 STEERING G EAR FOR MECHANICALLY PROPELLED VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 7, i914.

Patnted July 4, i916.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 3.

steering column, the said cam being in en- UNITED sTATEs PATENT 1 HENRY MAnLEs, or MANOR PARK; ENGLAND.

STEERING-,GEAR Fon' MEcHaNrcALLY-Pnornnnnn VEHICLES.

@all whom z'tmag/ concern.'

i B itknown that I, HENRY MARLES, a vsubject of His Majesty the King of England, residing atManor-Park, in the county ,o-f`Essex, Kingdom-of England, have invented -certain new and useful Improve.

' ments in Steering-Gears for Mechanicallyllropelled Vehicles, of which the following 'i is la specification.

- T his invention relates to improvements in vcam operated steering gear for motor cars and other mechanically propelled vehicles.

' 1 Heretofore in this kind of steering gear it has been/.proposed to operate a grooved cam or equivalfnt surface by the rotation of the gagement with a roller on the end of the steering lever. Now the present invention vis chieliydistinguished from 'the previously known gear of this kind in Athat theA steering road wheels are operated and controlled by means'v ofv opposed cams or cam surfaces which are secured or formed on, or .operatively connected to, the steering column.

The object of the invention is to provide 'a steering gear of such construction`-that there will be no loss of motion or slip between the steering wheel and the road wheels and the steering wheels are incapable of movement column.

The invention 1s hereinafter described irrespective of. the steering with reference-to the accompanying drawings in which 'r- Figure 1 is a sectional elevation vof the `improved steering gear, showing the cams and rollers in mid position when the car would be traveling approximately in a straight line; Fig. 2 is a sectional plan of lash, and vice versa when the hand-wheel is turned in the other direction. y

A pair of preferably volute or snailshaped cams c are mounted upon a rotary steering column o, the cams being suitably spaced apart and adapted to be engaged by -a pair of rollers c. A bracket gis provided with two opeiiings located at right angles to Specification of Letters Patent.

' Patented July 4, 1916.

Application led November 7, 1914.l Serial No. 870,895.

eachother. pivot-e extends through one of theJ openings and is 'keyed to'the bracket, the p1vot being located midway vbetween the two cams a. A pin f extends through the 4other openingof the bracket g and the ends reduced, the reduced ends 01` of the pin are portions being preferably screw-threaded at their outer terminals. Rings fm, are mounted p upon the reduced portions and are held in.

position by meansfof nuts Ao vwhich have screw-threaded engagement with the ends or reduced portions of the pin f. lInterposed between the rings m and the rollers c are ball or roller bearings c. A steering arm d -is connected to the pivot e and oscillates withthe pivot -Which is actuated ontheroy tation of the cams a.

- The volute cams referred-to are prefer-V ably vvformed from fiat disks of a substantial thickness so as to provide satisfactory cam faces a for the rollersI to bear upon. These cam faces preferably continue around the entire circumferences of the disks.

The throw or rise of eachA cam is approximately determined by thediiference between the maximum and minimum diameters of same, the cam face starting yfrom the minimum diameter and rising or receding from the center throughout the circumferencerto the maximum diameter. This' rise or throw' of the cam face may be regular in relation to the circumference, or it may be irregular. Orthe cam may take the form of an eccentricor an ellipse. In either of the latter cases however, the throw or rise would not continue throughout the whole revolution.

The; pair of cams a are arranged 'upon the steering column Z) so that the rise of one is in the opposite direction to the other and in exactly equal ratio as shown. Thus one of the rollers c bears upon one cam face and the other roller upon the other cam face in such a way that the steering arm d cannot move unless the cams are revolved.

When the cams a arelrevolved by means ofthe hand-wheel and column l) -the f: ce of one rises or advances from the center of said column and the face of the Iother recedes thus imparting a rocking movement tothe pivoted ysteering arm d the lower end of which operates the usual horizontal steering rod h. If the edges or working faces of the cams are made parallel with theaxis of thesteerinv column throughout their ff.

whole circumterences it will be necessary to mount the rollers spherically'as the piv' l lll cling niorenient ot the Steering; arln throws the aree ol' mid rollcre out ot parallel with the :drei-inl; rolinnn; or hclaccn of the rollcre could be lorinml convex. llut l nreier to avoid thin by forming the ani facce u with u constantly rairing angle au showin no tha t the)`- adapt; themselves as they rotate to the varying angle assumed by the faces oli the rullini; c. To reduce friction, ball or roller bearings maybe employed u non the ;`--ltcluinr lfoluinu at E, und upon the bearingfe ol" the Iuirot c at j' and within the rollin's c at ils.

instead nl the foregoing arrangement l may torni the carne e o as spiral surfaces .uurolnulingr the steering column 'o the rollers c c would then operate in a more or less vertical direction. i

`What l claim as my invention and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States isz-- i. il steering gear, comprising a vertical steering column, spaced apart cams on the steering column, having opposed cani surfaces, a horizontal pivot nested between the canne in close proximity to the steering column, a bracket keyed at one end upon said pivot and nroieeting outwardly between the came from the iiteering,r coinnln, a pin secured vertically through the outer end of the bracket, and having its ends; projecting ietf orally' lwyond the bracket in epeced relation to and in the planen oit the come, rollere on the opposite ends ot' the pin ttor contact with the respective can e, a'nd a steering" arrn cm- -ried upon the lioriizontnl pivot.

il. A steering' gear for mechanically propelled vehicles, comprising a steering coluznn, spaced apart carne on the steering column having; opposed enni, surfaced a bracket located againnt the steering column between said came, and extending outwardly from mannen prclnided with a vertical openingr in its outer end, and a ln'uizontal opening in its inner A end, a nin mounted in the vertical opening in the outer end and projecting beyond the sides of the bracket, rollers mounted on the ende of Said pin, and engaging the cains, a horizontal pivot keyed in the horizontal opening oi' the bracket, between the cams, und in close proximity to the Steering colunin, and a Steering infin operatively con` net-ted to said pivot.

3. A steering gear comprising a steering column, came mounted on the steering cl linnn having opposed cam surfaces, a bracket lying close to the steering column between the cams, and extending outwardly there from, saidbracket having a vertical opening and a horizontal opening in its outer and inner ends respectively, a horizontal pivot lying close to the steering column between the cams andextcnding through the horizontal opening, and keyed to the bracket, a steering arm operatively connected to the pivot, a pin extending through the vertical opening at right angles to the bracket, and outwardly of said horizontal pivot, and having the ends thereof` reduced and screw threaded, rings mounted upon the reduced ends of the pin, rollers bearing against the cam surfaces and encircling the ringe, balls interposed between the rings and the rollers;1 and nuts secured upon the reduced ends of the pin for fastening the rings and rollers thereon.

ln testimony whercotl I have signed this specification in the presence of two suhecribing witnesses. l

HENRY MARLES. ldlitnesses:

J. S. W'rrnnns, FRANK Bimini'. 

